Sacrifices and Mantra

[Guest guest]

Dear Learned Persons in Mantra Sastra,

I am scanning some mantra sastra books. I found that some rituals

requires sacrifices like Crow, Cat, Lamb et al. I think killing some

animal is a SIN? How to justify this?

 

Hope to hear the answer soon,

 

Best Regards,

Venkateshwara Reddy

[Guest guest]

JAYA JAGANNATHA!

 

Dear Venkateshvara,

 

Namaste.

 

 

> Dear Learned Persons in Mantra Sastra,

> I am scanning some mantra sastra books. I found that some rituals

> requires sacrifices like Crow, Cat, Lamb et al. I think killing some

> animal is a SIN? How to justify this?

 

There's different paths of dharma mentinoned in Vedic Sastras for different

people, and also for different ages. Animal sacrifice was prominent in the

Treta yuga, which ended approximately about 870 thousand years ago and

lasted for 1 296 thousand years before that. The Yoga/dharma in that age vas

yajna, or sacrifice, which was moslty performed as an offering to Lord

Vishnu and the demigods, and in the process of the sacrifice, cows and

horses were offered into the sacred fire. However, the power of the Vedic

mantras and the purity of the Brahiminsd performing the yajna was so high,

that the animals didn;t actually die, but received a young body after

entering the fire and thus they survived the sacrifice and were rejuvenated.

However, with the advent of the Kali yuga especially, this level of purity

in chanting the Vedic mantras is impossible to achieve, therefore the animal

sacrifices are forbidden in this age. This instruction is given in the

Brahma-vaivarta Purana (Krsna-janma-khanda 185.180)

 

ashvamedham gavaalambham sannyaasam pala-paitrikam

devarena sutotpattim kalau panca vivarjayet

 

"'In this Age of Kali, five acts are forbidden: the offering of a horse in

sacrifice, the offering of a cow in sacrifice, the acceptance of the order

of sannyaasa, the offering of oblations of flesh to the forefathers, and a

man's begetting children in his brother's wife.'

 

Therefore in the Puranas the advent of Lord Buddha is foretold, with the

mission of Ahimsa, or discouraging people from animal sacrifice, as this

prwactice was still current at the times of Lord Buddha. Not only in India,

but even in Bible, in the Old testament you may rtead about lamb sacrifices,

which were also discouraged by some instructions in the New Testament. So we

may conclude that it was a religious practice of a previous age.

 

On the other hand, the whole Vedic system of sacrifices is impossible to

follow nowadays, therefore another system is recommended, which is called

Pancaraatra system of worship, which is concentrated mainly around Deity

worship (Arcanam) and similar other rituals. Now this system is also called

Tantra. Depending on the main Deity adored, there's three schools: Vaishnava

Tantra (Visnu), Saivite Tantra (Siva) and Sakta Tantra (Sakti), which are

precticed by people under the influence oif different Gunas or modes of

nature. Especially in Sakta Tantra there's some fierce forms of Sakti Ma,

like Kali or Chandi, and for them sacrifice of a goat is recommended.

However, this is not to encourage meat-eating and killing of animals, rahter

a regulation for those who would kill them anyway. So rather than practice a

religious process that is under the mode of ignorance (Tamo-guna), it is

advised to increase the influence of Sattva by becoming a vegetarian, and

offering the food as a sacrifice to Lord Vishnu, which is recommended in the

Bhagavad-gita (yajna/sistasinah santo mucyante sarva-kilbisaih and

patram-pushpam-phalam-toyam yo me bhaktya prayacchati).

 

In cocnlusion, the different Mantras offered in the Mantra-shastra are also

for people under the different Gunas, so the best is to choose the Sattvic

mantras, or the transcendental ones, which consist of the names of Lord

Vishnu, Krishna and the Avataaras.

 

Yours,

 

Gauranga Das Vedic Astrologer

gauranga

Jyotish Remedies:

WWW.BRIHASPATI.NET

Phone:+36-309-140-839

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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